Videos

Artist interviews

Folk Friend meets Tiffany Schaefer - harp and guitar Irish duet

Folk Friend Meets Tiffany Schaefer- How to accompany The Castle Jig on harp (duet at the end!)

This year, in honour of St. Patrick's Day, I got together for a Zoom call with the amazing American harpist ...

Folk Friend presents : Writing fingerstyle in DADGAD with special guest Jordan Lively

A few months ago I released a book of fingerstyle arrangements and soon after I ran a competition, in which ...

Folk Friend meets Duncan Cameron – tunings, Canadian folk music styles, accompanying songs and more!

Last week I had the pleasure of talking to Duncan Cameron, a Canadian singer, multi-instrumentalist and Youtuber from Ontario, Canada ...

Celtic music theory

Chord inversions for Irish guitar free video lesson

Inversions for Irish guitarists part 2: chords in A major for Ger The Rigger

Here's another video from Folk Friend Celtic Guitar Tutorials, celebrating the release of my latest book (see below) with a ...
How to combine the dorian and aeolian modes for Irish backing guitar lesson

The best kept secret about Irish guitar chords in minor keys. Ssshh!

In this week's free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I'm going to be letting you in on a little ...
Top 5 tips for Irish guitar beginners

Very first Irish guitar lesson: the ultimate top 5 tips for beginner Irish guitar accompaniment

https://youtu.be/K-2QuP35y70 In this free lesson from Folk Friend I'll be running complete beginners through the top 5 tips for complete ...
How to add jazz chords to folk guitar part 2

Jazz chords for Irish guitar lesson 2 – the ionian, dorian, mixolydian and aeolian modes

This is the second free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend covering tetrads or four note "jazz chords". This week ...
Jazz chords for Irish guitar 1

How to add jazz chords to Irish guitar backing PART 1: The three types of seven chord

In today's free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I'll be running you through the three families of 7 chords ...
Easiest way to pick chords for Celtic guitar accompaniment

How to pick chords for Irish / Scottish music in the dorian, mixolydian or aeolian modes- Folk Friend

In this week's free Irish / Scottish / Celtic guitar lesson, I'll be finishing off my series of videos about ...
Easiest way to pick chords for Celtic guitar accompaniment

Easiest way to pick chords for Celtic guitar accompaniment PART 2

In my previous free guitar lesson I showed you how to pick the right chords for Irish / Celtic music ...
How to pick guitar chords for Irish and Scottish music

Easiest way to pick chords for Celtic guitar accompaniment by ear – Folk Friend

In this week's free Irish guitar lesson I will be showing you the easiest way to pick chords for a ...
How do the modes work for Irish and Scottish guitarists

Ultimate guide to Celtic/Irish music theory part 2 – how to find chords for any mode

Hello again, and welcome to part 2 of my guide to scales, modes, and chords for Celtic backing guitarists! In ...
Guitar scales and chords for Irish and Scottish folk music

Ultimate guide to Celtic music theory for beginners 1 – scales and chords for major keys Folk Friend

Hello again, and welcome to part 1 of my guide to scales, modes, and chords for Celtic backing guitarists! In ...

Chord scales for modes

Chord inversions for Irish guitar free video lesson

Inversions for Irish guitarists part 2: chords in A major for Ger The Rigger

Here's another video from Folk Friend Celtic Guitar Tutorials, celebrating the release of my latest book (see below) with a ...
Top 5 tips for Irish guitar beginners

Very first Irish guitar lesson: the ultimate top 5 tips for beginner Irish guitar accompaniment

https://youtu.be/K-2QuP35y70 In this free lesson from Folk Friend I'll be running complete beginners through the top 5 tips for complete ...
Get the DADGAD guitar sound without retuning from standard EADGBE

How to get the DADGAD guitar sound without retuning! Partial capos for beginners

This free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend covers partial capo-ing, the easiest way to get the classic sound of ...
Easy chord shapes for Irish tunes in E minor

Learn these easy guitar chord shapes to accompany Irish / Celtic tunes in E minor

In this free Celtic guitar lesson I'll be showing you one really simple shape which you can move around to ...
How capos work and partial capo - ing

How capos work and partial capoing for Irish and Celtic folk guitar

In this video I respond to a message from Claire who wanted to know how capos work. I also show ...
Easiest way to pick chords for Celtic guitar accompaniment

How to pick chords for Irish / Scottish music in the dorian, mixolydian or aeolian modes- Folk Friend

In this week's free Irish / Scottish / Celtic guitar lesson, I'll be finishing off my series of videos about ...
Easiest way to pick chords for Celtic guitar accompaniment

Easiest way to pick chords for Celtic guitar accompaniment PART 2

In my previous free guitar lesson I showed you how to pick the right chords for Irish / Celtic music ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #4 – Interesting chord progressions and music theory – Irish jig in the dorian mode

I'm sorry that I was cut off by a technical difficulty so didn't have time to look at the other ...
django Reinhardt chords for Irish traditional music on guitar

Using Django Reinhardt’s Gypsy Jazz guitar chords for Irish tunes in the dorian mode

This week's free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend will be delving into some of the shapes popularised by Django ...
Practice tips for Irish guitar lesson

Top Ten guitar practice tips for Irish, Scottish and Celtic guitarists – Folk Friend

It can be difficult to get started learning Celtic backing guitar. There is so much to learn, from ear training, ...

DADGAD

How to accompany Ramnee Ceilidh Irish reel on DADGAD guitar - free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend

How to accompany Ramnee Ceilidh – Irish DADGAD guitar lesson PLUS news about the Folk Friend tour!

https://youtu.be/ctkSdAvDObM In this video I'll be showing you how to accompany one of my favourite Irish reels, Ramnee Ceilidh in ...

Nye and Mitzi – Irish fiddle and guitar jam with DADGAD guitar lesson commentary

https://youtu.be/leQPIJj0hJk My latest business venture (alongside Folk Friend and Finale Guitar) is now open! You can find out more about ...
Nye and Felix play Irish reels - with DADGAD guitar guide commentary

Nye and Felix play Irish reels – with DADGAD guitar guide commentary

In this week's free DADGAD guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I'll be running you through some of the techniques I ...
Whistle and Irish DADGAD guitar jam with free guitar lesson commentary

Irish DADGAD backing guitar lesson – Nye and Alexa play jigs with commentary

This week I've decided to post a little clip of myself and my mum jamming through a new set of ...
Free Irish DADGAD guitar lesson - chords for the Kesh Jig

Beginners’ Guide To Celtic DADGAD Accompaniment – part 2 – The Kesh Jig and another handy slide-able shape!

https://youtu.be/LHt7rVuDJsc Welcome back to part 2 of the Folk Friend Beginner's Guide to Celtic DADGAD Accompaniment! This video series will ...
Complete Beginner's Guide To Irish DADGAD Guitar - free guitar lesson video course - Folk Friend

Complete Beginner’s Irish DADGAD guitar accompaniment lessons part 1 – picking chords in D major

It's nice to be back making videos at Folk Friend HQ! I've finally finished my latest book, The Beginner's Guide ...
Free Irish DADGAD fingerstyle guitar lesson - learn Ger The Rigger (polka)

Beautiful and easy Irish polka arrangement in DADGAD tuning – Ger The Rigger with free tab

This week I'll be teaching you to play an easy DADGAD fingerstyle arrangement of one of my favourite Irish polkas, ...
The most useful scale eer for beginner DADGAD guitarists- free fingerstyle guitar lesson

The most useful scale ever – beginner DADGAD fingerstyle guitar lesson

In this week's free Irish / Celtic guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I'll be showing you the most useful scale ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #42 – A “by ear” approach to DADGAD backing for folk tunes with almost no theory!

In this week's Folky Fridays free online guitar lesson live stream from Folk Friend I will be showing you a ...
Top 5 tips for Irish guitar beginners

Very first Irish guitar lesson: the ultimate top 5 tips for beginner Irish guitar accompaniment

https://youtu.be/K-2QuP35y70 In this free lesson from Folk Friend I'll be running complete beginners through the top 5 tips for complete ...

Drop D

Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #52 – A short guide to drop D tuning, with power chords, triads and tetrads+!

This week's Folky Fridays free online guitar lesson live stream from Folk Friend will be all about drop D tuning ...
John Doyle guitar lesson - chords in drop D tuning for Irish guitar

John Doyle guitar style guide – all parts including chord shapes for drop D tuning, chromatic techniques and reel strumming patterns

I've been putting this one off for a while, but it's finally time to examine the style of one of ...
Top 5 tips for Irish guitar beginners

Very first Irish guitar lesson: the ultimate top 5 tips for beginner Irish guitar accompaniment

https://youtu.be/K-2QuP35y70 In this free lesson from Folk Friend I'll be running complete beginners through the top 5 tips for complete ...
Practice tips for Irish guitar lesson

Top Ten guitar practice tips for Irish, Scottish and Celtic guitarists – Folk Friend

It can be difficult to get started learning Celtic backing guitar. There is so much to learn, from ear training, ...

Beginner’s Celtic guitar lesson in drop D- as used by John Doyle, Paul Brady, Arty McGlynn, Tim Edey…

This free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend covers one of the most popular tunings out there; drop D. This ...

Ear training

How to combine the dorian and aeolian modes for Irish backing guitar lesson

The best kept secret about Irish guitar chords in minor keys. Ssshh!

In this week's free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I'm going to be letting you in on a little ...
How to pick chords for Irish tunes in the dorian mode

How to choose guitar chords for Irish tunes part 4 – dark minor keys (the aeolian mode)

In this week's free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend I'll be running you how to pick chords by ear ...
Learn to pick guitar chords by ear in the mixolydian mode

How to pick Irish guitar chords for beginners – PART 3 – tunes in the mixolydian mode

In this week's free Irish guitar tutorial from Folk Friend I will be running you through a very popular modern ...
How to pick chords for Irish tunes in the dorian mode / minor keys

How to pick Irish guitar chords for folk tunes – part 2 – Minor keys (dorian mode)

This week on Folk Friend's weekly Celtic guitar tutorial video I'll be running you how to pick chords for Irish, ...
How to pick Irish guitar chords by ear - part 1

How to pick Irish guitar chords by ear for complete beginners PART 1- tunes in major keys

This week's free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend is for complete beginners who want to learn how to accompany ...
Top 5 tips for Irish guitar beginners

Very first Irish guitar lesson: the ultimate top 5 tips for beginner Irish guitar accompaniment

https://youtu.be/K-2QuP35y70 In this free lesson from Folk Friend I'll be running complete beginners through the top 5 tips for complete ...
Easiest way to pick chords for Celtic guitar accompaniment

Easiest way to pick chords for Celtic guitar accompaniment PART 2

In my previous free guitar lesson I showed you how to pick the right chords for Irish / Celtic music ...
How to pick guitar chords for Irish and Scottish music

Easiest way to pick chords for Celtic guitar accompaniment by ear – Folk Friend

In this week's free Irish guitar lesson I will be showing you the easiest way to pick chords for a ...
Practice tips for Irish guitar lesson

Top Ten guitar practice tips for Irish, Scottish and Celtic guitarists – Folk Friend

It can be difficult to get started learning Celtic backing guitar. There is so much to learn, from ear training, ...

What is swing? A guide to hornpipes and reels for beginner folk backing guitarists

This free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend covers "swing" and shows you exactly what is actually going on. It ...

Finger style

Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #53 – The easiest way to write fingerstyle arrangements for tunes in G and E minor

This week's Folky Fridays free online guitar lesson live stream from Folk Friend will be covering a very simple way ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #43 – Comparing arrangement options in DADGAD and EADGBE

In this week's Folky Fridays free online guitar lesson live stream from Folk Friend I will be responding to a ...
Free Irish DADGAD fingerstyle guitar lesson - learn Ger The Rigger (polka)

Beautiful and easy Irish polka arrangement in DADGAD tuning – Ger The Rigger with free tab

This week I'll be teaching you to play an easy DADGAD fingerstyle arrangement of one of my favourite Irish polkas, ...
The most useful scale eer for beginner DADGAD guitarists- free fingerstyle guitar lesson

The most useful scale ever – beginner DADGAD fingerstyle guitar lesson

In this week's free Irish / Celtic guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I'll be showing you the most useful scale ...

Folky Fridays #41 – 1 hour to arrange McMahon’s Reel for Irish Fingerstyle guitar in DADGAD tuning

In this week's Folky Fridays free online guitar lesson live stream from Folk Friend I will be attempting to write ...
How to play John Fahey - Sligo River Blues on acoustic guitar

How to play John Fahey – Sligo River Blues on guitar

This week's free guitar lesson from Folk Friend is responding to a request from Shane Tully who asked for a ...
Buried My Wife And Danced On Her Grave DADGAD fingerstyle Irish guitar arrangement

DADGAD fingerstyle guitar lesson: I Buried My Wife And Danced On Her Grave

This will be the last free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend for 2020, but I'll be back with loads ...
Practice tips for Irish guitar lesson

Top Ten guitar practice tips for Irish, Scottish and Celtic guitarists – Folk Friend

It can be difficult to get started learning Celtic backing guitar. There is so much to learn, from ear training, ...
How to write Irish fingerstyle guitar arrangements

How to write Celtic Fingerstyle Guitar Arrangements and ARRANGEMENT COMPETITION – Folk Friend

This week Folk Friend is running a competition to celebrate the release of my latest book, Irish Tunes for Fingerstyle ...

Folk Friend presents : Writing fingerstyle in DADGAD with special guest Jordan Lively

A few months ago I released a book of fingerstyle arrangements and soon after I ran a competition, in which ...

Free Playalongs

Cliffs Of Moher jig played slowly with on screen guitar chords

Cliffs of Moher – free Irish jig playalong for beginners with on screen guitar chords

Here is my final free playalong for you all- this time it's a cracking Irish jig in A dorian called ...

Kesh Jig slow, medium and fast playalong track for guitarists with chords – Folk Friend

This is the first in my brand new series of tune playalongs! This one is The Kesh Jig with guitar ...

The Butterfly slip jig – slow, medium and fast playalong with guitar chords – E aeolian

In this week's tune playalong you can find easy, intermediate and advanced chords for the Irish slip jig, The Butterfly! ...

The Rights Of Man – hornpipe, E aeolian – slow and session speed tune playalong with guitar chords!

This week's free playalong is a very popular Irish session hornpipe called The Rights Of Man. The tune is in ...

John Ryan’s Polka Playalong – slow, medium and session speed with on-screen guitar chords

This week's free Irish tune playalong from Folk Friend is John Ryan's polka! This is a session classic in the ...

Maid Behind The Bar – slow, medium and fast playalong track for guitarists with on-screen chords

Here is the second playalong video from Folk Friend! This one is a classic Irish session reel called Maid Behind ...

Folky Fridays

Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #53 – The easiest way to write fingerstyle arrangements for tunes in G and E minor

This week's Folky Fridays free online guitar lesson live stream from Folk Friend will be covering a very simple way ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #52 – A short guide to drop D tuning, with power chords, triads and tetrads+!

This week's Folky Fridays free online guitar lesson live stream from Folk Friend will be all about drop D tuning ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #51 – Irish tunes from the Finale Guitar shop in Sheffield, with Theo Parmakis

This week's Folky Fridays free online guitar lesson live stream from Folk Friend is something special in honour of 50 ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #50 – How to use jazzier chords in your Irish and Scottish guitar accompaniment

In today’s Folky Fridays free Celtic guitar lesson livestream, I will be running you through the basics of how to ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #49 – What makes Irish / Scottish music sound Celtic?!

In today’s Folky Fridays free Celtic guitar lesson livestream, I wanted to discuss my thoughts on what makes Celtic music ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #48 – A complete approach to guitar accompaniment for Swallowtail jig – Irish guitar

In this week's Folky Fridays free online guitar lesson live stream from Folk Friend I will be showing you how ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #47 – “Power chords” for super easy Irish guitar accompaniment!

In this week's Folky Fridays free online guitar lesson live stream from Folk Friend I will be showing you how ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #46 – loads of reel strumming patterns including “half time” for trad guitarists!

In this week's Folky Fridays free online guitar lesson live stream from Folk Friend I will be having a look ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #45 – A few tunes with my mum!

In today’s Folky Fridays free Celtic guitar lesson livestream, I’ll be having another crack at streaming some tunes with my ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #44 – Open session! Help with all your questions about beginner Irish guitar

In this week's Folky Fridays free online guitar lesson live stream from Folk Friend I will be taking questions on ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #43 – Comparing arrangement options in DADGAD and EADGBE

In this week's Folky Fridays free online guitar lesson live stream from Folk Friend I will be responding to a ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #49 – What makes Irish / Scottish music sound Celtic?!

In today’s Folky Fridays free Celtic guitar lesson livestream, I wanted to discuss my thoughts on what makes Celtic music ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #48 – A complete approach to guitar accompaniment for Swallowtail jig

In this week's Folky Fridays free online guitar lesson live stream from Folk Friend I will be showing you how ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #47 – “Power chords” for super easy Irish guitar accompaniment!

In this week's Folky Fridays free online guitar lesson live stream from Folk Friend I will be showing you how ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #42 – A “by ear” approach to DADGAD backing for folk tunes with almost no theory!

In this week's Folky Fridays free online guitar lesson live stream from Folk Friend I will be showing you a ...

Folky Fridays #41 – 1 hour to arrange McMahon’s Reel for Irish Fingerstyle guitar in DADGAD tuning

In this week's Folky Fridays free online guitar lesson live stream from Folk Friend I will be attempting to write ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #40 – What makes a great sounding Irish guitar chord progression?

In this week's Folky Fridays free online guitar lesson live stream from Folk Friend I will be running you through ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #39 – How to to make your trad backing sound like Django Reinhardt!

In this week's Folky Fridays free online guitar lesson live stream from Folk Friend I will be showing you the ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #38 – How to use chord inversions and pedal points for Celtic / Irish guitar backing

In this week's Folky Fridays free online guitar lesson live stream from Folk Friend I will be showing you some ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #37 – How to make your Irish guitar practice more efficient in 2021

This year I want you to cut out the noodling daydreaming and general twiddlage which seems to afflict all guitarists, ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #36 – What are the modes and what chords do they use?

Happy new year and welcome back to Folky Fridays! In this week's free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I'll ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #35 – how to get high scale notes over chords for Irish DADGAD fingerstyle guitar

In this week's free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I'll be running you through some of the useful DADGAD ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #33 – Beginner’s guide to flatpicking along with tunes in standard tuning

In this week's free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I'll be showing you some useful scale exercises to practice ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #32 – The simplest approach to ear training for picking Irish guitar chords

In this week's free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I'll be showing you my super simple approach to ear ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #31 – All the strumming patterns and rhythm variations for Irish guitar accompaniment!

In this week's free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I'll be recapping all the classic Irish strumming patterns (jigs, ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #30 – adding melodies into your DADGAD folk backing guitar

In this week's free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I'll be showing you how you can play the melody ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #29 – walking basslines and dominant 7 chords for jazzy Irish guitar backing!

In today’s Folky Fridays free Celtic guitar lesson livestream, I’ll be showing you how you can use walking basslines, dominant ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #28 – Tunes from Finale Guitar Sheffield 2, plus set building guidance

In this week's Folky Fridays Celtic guitar lesson live stream the amazing Felix Parker-Price will be popping into the studio ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #27 – Tunes from the Finale Guitar Shop with Nye Farley and Felix Parker Price!

I have a very special guest in this week's Folky Fridays Celtic guitar lesson live stream! The one and only ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #26 – learn drop D tuning for Irish guitar accompaniment!

In this week's Folky Fridays Celtic guitar lesson live stream I'll be having a look at drop D tuning. I'll ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #23 – Backing guitar lesson for Celtic tunes with key changes in

In this week's episode of Folky Fridays I'll be showing you some examples of classic Celtic tunes which change modes ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #22 – DADGAD accompaniment lesson for 7 classic Celtic tunes

In this week's episode of Folky Fridays I'll be examining the evolution of "Celtic" instrumental music over time and how ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #21 – A beginner’s journey into the DADGAD mindset for Irish guitar

This week's episode of Folky Fridays I'm going to be sharing some DADGAD experiments with you all! We'll be looking ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #20 – Open session! Picking chords in DADGAD, passing chords, nerves and more.

I've finally finished my charity bike ride! Over 300 miles successfully completed - donations are still open here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/parkstopeaks In ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #19 – Lex and Nye’s garden jam part 2, with Irish guitar chord tips

My mum is back by popular demand in this week's free Irish guitar tutorial. We'll be jamming through lots of ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #16 – How to accompany the Butterfly on guitar – Irish slip jig in E dorian

This week's Folky Fridays free Celtic guitar lesson from Folk Friend will be looking at a very common Irish session ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #15 – The Simple 7s – easy jazz chords Celtic / Scottish / Irish guitar players

This week's Folky Fridays free Celtic guitar lesson from Folk Friend will be covering looking at a frequently misunderstood chapter ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #14 – Drop D tuning and how to use it (Celtic / Scottish / Irish guitar tutorial)

This week's Folky Fridays free Celtic guitar lesson from Folk Friend will be covering some of the most useful shapes ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #13 – Simple linking chord phrases to make your Irish backing guitar more interesting!

This week's Folky Fridays free Celtic guitar lesson from Folk Friend will be covering some useful "linking chords" and "bass ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #11 – how to write a Kesh Jig fingerstyle guitar arrangement from scratch

In this week's free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I'm going to write a simple fingerstyle arrangement of an ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #9 – modifying your strumming to recreate rhythms within a melody

SORRY ABOUT THE CONNECTION ISSUES - I WILL SORT IT OUT FOR NEXT TIME. This free Irish guitar lesson from ...

Folky Fridays #7 – learn Connaughtman’s Rambles on the guitar!

In this week's Folky Fridays live streamed Celtic guitar lesson I'll be teaching you how to play a popular Irish ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #6 – Celtic / Irish guitar practice and ear training techniques – Folk Friend

In the 6th episode of the Folky Fridays Celtic guitar tutorial live stream from Folk Friend, I'll be discussing some ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #5 – aeolian and mixolydian chord progressions

In this Folky Fridays free Irish guitar lesson I covered an unusual approach to modal folk tunes: using two modes ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #3 – A selection of strumming patterns – all the rhythms for Irish traditional guitar

In Folky Fridays #3 I'll be covering my favourite easy strumming patterns for all the main rhythms used in Irish ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #2 – Picking chords by ear (part 1)

In this week's Folky Fridays I will be doing a bit of a Q and A around picking chords for ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #4 – Interesting chord progressions and music theory – Irish jig in the dorian mode

I'm sorry that I was cut off by a technical difficulty so didn't have time to look at the other ...

Folky Fridays #18 – Guitar chord options for classic Irish session tunes, with special guest Alexa

I have a special guest in this week's Folky Fridays free Celtic guitar lesson from Folk Friend! My mum Alexa, ...

Folky Fridays #24 – Borrow chords from Latin American music and use them to accompany Celtic tunes!

This week's Folky Fridays free Celtic guitar lesson live stream will be on a topic which I absolutely love: borrowing ...

Folky Fridays #25 – A first glance at partial capo techniques for Celtic / Irish backing guitar

In this week's episode of Folky Fridays from Folk Friend, I'll be giving you a first glance at partial capoing ...

Jazz chord theory

Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #40 – What makes a great sounding Irish guitar chord progression?

In this week's Folky Fridays free online guitar lesson live stream from Folk Friend I will be running you through ...
The secret to jazz chords in Irish folk guitar

The secret to using jazz chords in Irish trad guitar – tetrads part 3 from Folk Friend

https://youtu.be/cLXgfUrDqNk In this week's free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend I'll be showing you how you can use your ...
How to add jazz chords to folk guitar part 2

Jazz chords for Irish guitar lesson 2 – the ionian, dorian, mixolydian and aeolian modes

This is the second free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend covering tetrads or four note "jazz chords". This week ...
Jazz chords for Irish guitar 1

How to add jazz chords to Irish guitar backing PART 1: The three types of seven chord

In today's free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I'll be running you through the three families of 7 chords ...
V - I chord progressions for Celtic guitarists

V-Is: most important chord progression in Celtic guitar!

Hello viewers! I had a comment from Ed Wright last week asking about chords for V-I progressions, so in this ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #4 – Interesting chord progressions and music theory – Irish jig in the dorian mode

I'm sorry that I was cut off by a technical difficulty so didn't have time to look at the other ...
Dennis Cahill Irish Guitar Lesson Part 1

How to play Irish guitar like zen master Dennis Cahill – part 1

In this video I'll be running you through an Irish folk guitar chord progression and unusual strumming technique used by ...
django Reinhardt chords for Irish traditional music on guitar

Using Django Reinhardt’s Gypsy Jazz guitar chords for Irish tunes in the dorian mode

This week's free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend will be delving into some of the shapes popularised by Django ...
Practice tips for Irish guitar lesson

Top Ten guitar practice tips for Irish, Scottish and Celtic guitarists – Folk Friend

It can be difficult to get started learning Celtic backing guitar. There is so much to learn, from ear training, ...
learn to play irish guitar like Dennis Cahill

Dennis Cahill Guitar Tricks – Accompanying The Old Bush Reel with “vague” and contrapuntal chords

I had a lot of positive feedback from the first Folk Friend Irish guitar lesson covering the unusual playing style ...

Picking patterns

Practice tips for Irish guitar lesson

Top Ten guitar practice tips for Irish, Scottish and Celtic guitarists – Folk Friend

It can be difficult to get started learning Celtic backing guitar. There is so much to learn, from ear training, ...

Funky jig picking pattern – beginner Irish guitar tutorial

This free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend continues where last week's left off, with a super funky Irish jig ...

Easy finger picking accompaniment for jigs – free Celtic guitar lessons from Folk Friend

This free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend show you how to accompany jigs on acoustic guitar with a simple ...

2 Super easy reel and Irish song finger picking patterns – easy Celtic guitar lesson for beginners

This week's free guitar lesson from Folk Friend covers two super easy guitar finger picking patterns. They can be used ...

Clawhammer reel picking pattern tutorial

In this week's free Irish guitar accompaniment lesson from Folk Friend, I'll be showing you an unusual clawhammer picking pattern ...

Strumming patterns

How to accompany Ramnee Ceilidh Irish reel on DADGAD guitar - free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend

How to accompany Ramnee Ceilidh – Irish DADGAD guitar lesson PLUS news about the Folk Friend tour!

https://youtu.be/ctkSdAvDObM In this video I'll be showing you how to accompany one of my favourite Irish reels, Ramnee Ceilidh in ...
The "Faith" Pattern - a free guitar lesson covering a funky strumming pattern for Irish reels

The “Faith” funky reel strumming pattern

Welcome back to another Celtic guitar accompaniment tutorial from Folk Friend! This week I'll be demonstrating the "Faith" strumming pattern ...
Folky Fridays - Free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson live stream, every Friday from 5:30 UK time (GMT)

Folky Fridays #46 – loads of reel strumming patterns including “half time” for trad guitarists!

In this week's Folky Fridays free online guitar lesson live stream from Folk Friend I will be having a look ...
How to strum polkas- free guitar lesson from Folk Friend

How to strum polkas on guitar for complete beginners!

In this week's free guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I'll be showing you two easy strumming patterns you can use ...
Learn to add triplelts to slip jigs on Irish guitar

How to play strummed triplets in slip jigs – Irish guitar accompaniment tutorial

In this free beginner Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I'll be showing you how to incorporate strummed triplets into ...
How to strum jig triplets -- rhythm variation for Irish and Scottish guitar

How to play triplets in jigs – Irish guitar strumming tutorial

In this week's free beginner Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I'll be showing you how to add strummed triplets ...
Top 5 tips for Irish guitar beginners

Very first Irish guitar lesson: the ultimate top 5 tips for beginner Irish guitar accompaniment

https://youtu.be/K-2QuP35y70 In this free lesson from Folk Friend I'll be running complete beginners through the top 5 tips for complete ...
How to strum a waltz on guitar

How to strum a waltz – easy folk guitar strumming pattern lesson

This free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend will show you how to strum waltzes and songs in the 3/4 ...
How to play Raglan Road on guitar

How to play Raglan Road by Van Morrison and The Chieftains on guitar

In this free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend I'll be showing you how to play Raglan Road. Written by ...

Learn this alternative jig strumming pattern for funky Irish guitar!

In this free Irish guitar lesson, I'll be replying to a comment from Olivier Castel who wanted to know what ...

Styles of great guitarists

John Doyle guitar lesson - chords in drop D tuning for Irish guitar

John Doyle guitar style guide – all parts including chord shapes for drop D tuning, chromatic techniques and reel strumming patterns

I've been putting this one off for a while, but it's finally time to examine the style of one of ...
Tich Richardson Shetland guitar style guide thumbnail

A guide to the Shetland guitar style of Tich Richardson from Boys Of The Lough

I had a request recently for a video examining the Shetland guitar style of Tich Richardson who famously played with ...
How to play John Fahey - Sligo River Blues on acoustic guitar

How to play John Fahey – Sligo River Blues on guitar

This week's free guitar lesson from Folk Friend is responding to a request from Shane Tully who asked for a ...
Dennis Cahill Irish Guitar Lesson Part 1

How to play Irish guitar like zen master Dennis Cahill – part 1

In this video I'll be running you through an Irish folk guitar chord progression and unusual strumming technique used by ...
django Reinhardt chords for Irish traditional music on guitar

Using Django Reinhardt’s Gypsy Jazz guitar chords for Irish tunes in the dorian mode

This week's free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend will be delving into some of the shapes popularised by Django ...
learn to play irish guitar like Dennis Cahill

Dennis Cahill Guitar Tricks – Accompanying The Old Bush Reel with “vague” and contrapuntal chords

I had a lot of positive feedback from the first Folk Friend Irish guitar lesson covering the unusual playing style ...

How to strum polkas, plus Steve Cooney style and strummed triplets!

In this free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I'll be looking at how to play polkas. These are a ...

Folk Friend meets Duncan Cameron – tunings, Canadian folk music styles, accompanying songs and more!

Last week I had the pleasure of talking to Duncan Cameron, a Canadian singer, multi-instrumentalist and Youtuber from Ontario, Canada ...

Beginner’s Celtic guitar lesson in drop D- as used by John Doyle, Paul Brady, Arty McGlynn, Tim Edey…

This free Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend covers one of the most popular tunings out there; drop D. This ...

How to sound like Peerie Willy Johnson PART 1 – jazzy Irish and Scottish backing guitar tutorial

In this week's free Scottish and Irish guitar lesson from Folk Friend, I'll be looking at the playing of the ...